Blogging Kills

The Sunday New York Times reports that professional bloggers, "toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment," are finding the stress level a bit more than they bargained for.

Times reporter Matt Richtel reveals that three years of starting and building Techcrunch into an A-list technology blog have given founder Michael Arrington a sleeping disorder and thirty extra pounds around his waist. Two full-time bloggers have died of heart attacks recently, and people are questioning whether the stress of blogging 24/7 might be bad for your health.

Gosh. Ya think? Might I offer a humble suggestion: Take a deep breath, stop doing what you’re doing and rethink your career options.

Once upon a time most cities and many towns had more than one newspaper. This created competition for news, which meant that getting that story first somehow became an important part of the competition. There is much less competition between newspapers in cities these days, and traditional newspaper deadlines have been replaced by a more-or-less constant newsflow and the rise of specialty weblogs. But that same "Be First" philosophy still plays out on the Internet 24/7.

Here’s the nut graph: “To the victor go the ego points, and, potentially, the advertising. Bloggers for such sites are often paid for each post, though some are paid based on how many people read their material. They build that audience through scoops or volume or both.”

Notice that none of them are being paid for being “right”? It isn’t even mentioned. Audiences are built, we are told, “through scoops or volume or both.”

Perhaps that’s true, but to me it shows misplaced priorities and a bunch of people deluded into believing that what they say is important. Perhaps that feeling you get when your story comes out a mill-second faster than your competitor will sustain you for a bit, but blogging for “ego points” won’t get you very far in the satisfaction department.

The need to keep that pipeline fed 24/7 will generally lead to less, not more good information for those poor souls who have to read it. Crap, whether it’s written by well-paid pros or tired, c-list bloggers living off vitamin supplements mixed in their latte, is still crap.

Perhaps blog editors need to rethink their priorities. Being first isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Concentrate on being right, and the rest will come naturally.

Comments

[josephgelb]

i see this story out and in the blogosphere and dont really feel suprised because thats life and the system of people struggling against each other

some people like myself = the stoners dont take any of the worlds crap too seriously and we are generally happier and at the end of the day much less conceited much more successful and no less productive than the phony types who think one more cog in the mill will make any difference